State Journal

Who wants to know?

An anonymous North Carolina legislator is making work for top
administrators in one of the state's school districts.

Last month, the legislature's fiscal-research office, acting on
behalf of the unnamed lawmaker, requested public records on
administrative spending over the past five years in the Moore County
schools. The move has fueled speculation about whom the request came
from and why.

District officials suspect political maneuvering aimed at affecting
the outcome of two referendums set to go before county voters in
November: a $36.5 million school and community college bond issue and a
proposal to change from an appointed to elected school board.

Sandhills Community College was asked to provide similar
information.

The request has placed an undue burden on top district
administrators, who were asked to handle the request themselves without
the assistance of staff members, said Richard Schwartz, the lawyer for
the Moore County school board. The 10,400-student district does not
keep the records in the form in which they were requested. "What was
being asked for here was not just existing public records, but to
compile new records from existing data," Mr. Schwartz said.

James D. Johnson, a senior fiscal analyst with the legislature's
research division, said the request was not unusual. Such requests are
often kept confidential, he said.

Big payoff

What does it take to make high school seniors get serious about a
test? Ohio lawmakers think that $500 ought to do the trick.

Gov. George V. Voinovich, a Republican, signed a bill last month
that calls for giving seniors who pass all sections of the state's 12th
grade proficiency test and go to college in Ohio a gift of at least
$500.

The state board of regents must draft a plan for administering the
reward, which will likely be handed out beginning with the Class of
1999.

The program could cost between $15 million and $20 million a year,
said Paul Marshall, the director of government relations for the state
education department. About 38,000 seniors pass the test each year.

The proficiency exam is not used in college admissions, Mr. Marshall
said. But, he added, it helps the state gauge whether student learning
is aligned with the state's academic standards.